Apparatus for filling containers



Dec. 30, 1969 QUEST ET AL 3,486,538

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS Filed June 26, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 JN VEN TORS:

KARL GUEST HEINZ JORDAN fl mlza v4 lheir ATTORNEY Dec. .30, 1969 I K.QUEST ml. 4 3,486,538

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS Filed June 26, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I IN VENTORS:

KARI. GUEST HE/NZ JORDAN av I flmma-z l Mel) ATTORNEY Dec. 30, 1969 K. QUEST ET AL 3,486,538

' v APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS Filed June 26, 196'? s Sheets-Sheet 5 M v .a 3 H WQx 7 24 5 --L T w A LIPJIIIWVIIIIWWIP .lPn.

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g g ilfevllll 4- A a Z. a, h a t. w w m. am-Klan a United States Patent US. Cl. 141-39 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The liquid column which rises in the return connection between the interior of a beer bottle and the cushion of compressed gas above the liquid level in a beer tank is expelled from such connection by admission of compressed gas prior to start of the next filling cycle. The thus expelled liquid column is collected at a point other than the interior of the tank or a bottle.

The filling head of the bottle filling apparatus has a relief valve which can connect a bottle and the upper end of the filling tube with the atmosphere, and a shutofi valve which can eifect expulsion of liquid from the return connection as well as pressurization of the interior of an empty bottle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improvements in a method and apparatus for filling bottles or like containers with liquids, particularly with beer, soda or other carbonated beverages.

The aforementioned copending application Ser. No.

512,995, now US. Patent No. 3,381,723 of Quest discloses a method according to which a container is filled with compressed gas prior to admission of liquid which expels the gas and rises in a return conduit. The filling tube of the filling head is then caused to discharge liquid into the neck portion of the filled container while the latter communicates with the atmosphere. The liquid column which has risen into the return conduit is discharged into the next container or is forced into a separate chamber which is preferably provided on the liquidcontaining tank. The latter procedure is quite satisfactory because the liquid which flows from the return conduit into a separate chamber cannot cause turbulence in the containers and cannot contaminate the supply of liquid in the tank and/ or the next-following container. However, the retention of a liquid column in the return conduit and its evacuation into a separate chamber or into the next empty container necessitates the use of additional equipment, particularly, if the liquid column is expelled into a separate chamber, because such mode of filling necessitates the provision of filters, conduits, valves, nipples, control devices for valves and a source of highly compressed gas. The expenditures involved in installation and maintenance of such additional equipment are much higher than the cost of surplus liquid which has risen into the return conduit of a filling head during a filling cycle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an important object of our present invention to provide a novel and improved apparatus which exhibits 3,486,538 Patented Dec. 30, 1969 all important advantages of the just described apparatus but can be assembled, operated and serviced at a reduced cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel method which can be carried out with our improved apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method according to which the liquid column in the return conduit for compressed gas is prevented from creating turbulence in and/or of eventually contaminating the tank and/or the containers, and according to which a series of bottles or analogous containers for beer, soda or other carbonated beverages can be filled in rapid sequence and to the same level.

Briefly outlined, one feature of our invention resides in the provision of a method of filling bottles or like containers with liquids, particularly with beer or another carbonated beverage, from a source having a body of liquid therein under pressure of a cushion of compressed gas disposed above the liquid level. The method comprises placing an empty container below the source, establishing an upwardly extending connection between the cushion in the source and the interior of the container to raise the pressure therein, admitting liquid from the source into the thus pressurized container whereby the liquid displaces the gas and a liquid column also penetrates into the connection, sealing the cushion from the connection, removing the container from registry with the source, and expelling the liquid column from the connection prior to placing of a fresh container below the source. Such expulsion of the liquid column can be carried out by admitting gas from the source into the upper end of the connection, and the thus expelled liquid can be collected at a point other than in the source or in a container.

The admission of liquid from the source into the container preferably takes place through a substantially vertical filling tube, and the step of removing a container from registry with the source is preferably preceded by the steps of connecting the interior of a substantially filled container with the atmosphere and admitting atmospheric air into the upper end of the. filling tube to effect gravitational flow of liquid from the tube into the neck of the container while the liquid colunm remains in the connection. At least a portion of the connection preferably extends through the filling tube; for example, the latter may be provided with a vertical channel or pipe the lower end of which is open and the upper end of which can be connected with the gas cushion through a shutoff valve.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved apparatus itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon persual of the following detailed description of a specific embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING bottle filling apparatus which embodies our invention, the

FIG. 1 is an axial section through a portion of a parts of the apparatus being shown in positions they assume during an intermediate stage of a filling cycle;

FIG. 2 illustrates the same structure but with the parts shown in positions they assume during a further stage of the cycle; and

FIG. 3 illustrates the parts of the structure shown in FIG. 1 during the initial stage of a filling cycle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a portion of a filling machine which can introduce beer, soda or another carbonated liquid into successive containers in the form of bottles B. The apparatus comprises a series of filling heads 1 (only one shown) each of which is provided with a vertical passage 1:: for the flow of beer from the outlet 9a of a main source or tank 9 into a bottle B (FIG. 1 or 2). The passage 1a of the filling head 1 shown in FIG. 1 is surrounded by an annular seat 1b which can be engaged by the vertically movable valve member 2a of a first valve 2 serving to control admission of beer from the outlet 9a of the tank 9 into the bottle B. The filling head 1 further comprises a novel relief valve 3, a normally closed first shutofi" valve 29 which admits compressed gas into the bottle B from a plenum chamber 9b above the liquid level 9c in the tank 9, and a normally closed second shutoff valve 4 which can permit return flow of compressed gas from the bottle B into the plenum chamber 9b during inflow of beer from the tank 9.

The valve seat 112 is disposed at level above a vertical filling tube 5 which is installed in the head 1 and is provided with a channel or pipe 6 forming part of a gas returning connection and communicating at its upper end with a return conduit or bore 7 provided in the filling head 1 and controlled by the second shutoff valve 4. The latter is further connected with a gas returning riser pipe 8 which extends into the tank 9 and communicates with the cushion of compressed gas in the plenum chamher 915 above the liquid level 90. The lower end of the channel or pipe 6 is connected with a radial aperture 10 of the filling tube 5. The upper end of the tube 5 communicates with a relief conduit or bore 11 of the filling head 1, and the bore 11 can be connected with an annular chamber 13 of the filling head by means of the relief valve 3 and a further relief conduit or bore 12. The chamber 13 communicates with the neck portion 14 of the bottle B, and the relief valve 3 can connect the upper end of the tube 5 and/or the chamber 13 with a venting orifice 15 which communicates with the atmosphere.

A pincer-shaped suspending device 17 connects the filling head 1 with a bell-shaped centering and sealing member 16 which is slidable along the filling tube 5. The centering member 16 has a sleeve-like central portion 18 which can be moved upwardly against an annular sealing element 19 provided at the lower end of a cylindrical sleeve 20 which is integral or rigid with the filling head 1. The parts 18, 19, 20 define with the filling tube 5 an annular clearance which constitutes a downward extension of the chamber 13. The top of the neck portion 14 can engage a sealing ring 16a in the centering member 16 in order to urge the latter upwardly whereby the central portion 18 bears against the sealing element 19 to prevent uncontrolled escape of gas and/or beer.

The shutoff valve 29 can connect the interior of the bottle B with the plenum chamber 9b above the liquid level 9c in the tank 9. The gas admitting bores or conduits 35 which establish such communication when the valve 29 is open are shown in FIG. 1 by broken lines.

The relief valve 3 comprises two coaxial axially movable valve stems 21, 22 which respectively carry valve members 23 and 24. Each of the valve members 23, 24 is biased by a spring which causes it to bear against the adjoining seat provided therefor in the filling head 1 or in a separate valve body 36 installed in the filling head. The valve member 23 can connect or seal the relief bore 12 from the orifice 15 and the valve member 24 can connect or seal the relief bores 11 and 12 from each other. When the valve members 23, 24 abut against the respective seats, the stems 21, 22 are separated by a relatively narrow gap 25 shown in FIG. 3. Thus, and when the stem 21 is displaced in a direction to the right, as viewed in FIG. 3, the valve member 23 moves away from its seat ahead of the valve member 24 because the stem 21 requires a short interval of time to move across the gap 25 and to displace the stem 22. In other Words, a connection between the orifice 15 and relief bore 12 is established ahead of a connection between the relief bores 11 and 12 whereby the differential in time need not exceed a fraction of a second.

The stem of the shutoff valve 4 has an annular groove 26 which can receive a porton of a weighted or springbiased locking pawl 27 mounted in the filling head 1. The pawl 27 has a follower 28 which can be engaged by an actuating member here shown as a cam 28a in order to disengage the pawl from the stern of the shutoff valve 4.

The operation is as follows:

An empty bottle B is placed into registry with the centering member 16 and is caused to move upwardly so that the sleeve-like portion 18 of the centering member is moved into engagement with the sealing element 19. In the next step, the first valve 2 is opened by its spring 2b so that the valve member 2a moves away from the seat 1b and allows beer to flow from the lower portion of the tank 9 into the bottle B and to fill the latter to the level 32 of the aperture 10 in the filling tube 5. The neck 14 of the bottle is empty. The shutoff valve 4 is open while the valve 2 is open and is closed together with the valve 2 when the liquid level in the bottle B reaches the aperture 10. An actuating cam 30 is thereupon caused to shift the stem 21 of the relief valve 3 so that the stem 21 assumes the position shown in FIG. 1 and permits communication between the orifice 15 and relief bore 12. In other words, the annular chamber 13 is then free to communicate with the orifice 15 which is tantamount to connection of the interior of the empty neck portion 14 with the atmosphere because the neck portion communicates with the chamber 13 through the aforementioned annular clearance between the filling tube 5 and the parts 1820. The pressure in the upper part of the bottle B decreases but the connection of the neck portion 14 solely with the orifice 15 is terminated after a very short interval of time because the axially moving stem 21 advances across the gap 25 and engages the stem 22 to move the valve member 24 away from its seat and to establish communication between the relief bores 11 and 12, i.e., between the orifice 15 and the upper end of the filling tube 5. Such communication is established prior to reduction of pressure in the bottle B to atmospheric pressure.

The liquid column in the filling tube 5 is now free to descend into the bottle B and to fill the neck 14 to a predetermined level. The relief valve 3 remains open for an interval of time which is long enough to allow for removal of the bottle B whereby the remainder of liquid contained in the tube 5 also descends into the bottle. During this stage of the filling cycle, the shutoff valve 4 remains closed so that it entraps the liquid column which has risen into the channel 6. The shutoff valve 4 opens shortly after removal of the filled bottle B whereby the gas filling the chamber 9b in the upper part of the tank 9 expels the liquid column by penetrating through the riser pipe 8, shutoff valve 4, return bore 7 and channel 6. The evacuation of liquid from the channel 6 is terminated prior to placing of the next bottle into liquid-receiving position.

FIG. 2 shows the relief valve 3 in fully open position during evacuation of liquid from the filling tube 5.

FIG. 3 shows the initial stage of a filling cycle. The centering member 16 is engaged by the neck 14 of an empty bottle BB. The relief valve 3 is closed but the shutoff valve 29 is open due to engagement with an actuating cam 31 to permit entry of gas from the chamber 917 in the tank 9 into the bottle BB. When the gas pressure in the bottle BB equals the gas pressure above the liquid level in the tank 9, the shutoff valve 29 closes and the valve 2 opens automatically to permit flow of liquid by gravity. The shutoff valve 4 opens shortly before or simultaneously with opening of the valve 2 and is engaged by the locking pawl 27 to remain in open position. Gas which is displaced by beer flowing from the tank 9 via filling tube 5 is caused to flow through the channel 6, return bore 7, shutoff valve 4 and riser pipe 8 back into the chamber 9b in the upper part of the tank 9. When the liquid level in the bottle BB reaches the level 32 shown in FIG. 1, i.e., when the liquid closes the aperture 10 of the filling tube 5, it ceases to flow from the tank 9 and the valve 2 is then closed by a cam 33. The cam 28a then lifts the follower 28 of the pawl 27 so that the shutoff valve 4 closes. The next-following stages of the filling cycle are then carried out in a manner as described hereinbefore.

A trough 34 (shown in FIG. 1 by phantom lines) or an analogous receptacle serves to collect liquid which is expelled from the channel 6 in response to opening of the shutolf valve 4 prior to placing of an empty bottle into registry with the filling head 1.

An important advantage of the relief valve 3 is that a reduction of gas pressure in the neck 14 of a bottle B or BB can be initiated shortly before the upper end of the filling tube 5 is allowed to communicate with the atmosphere via conduit 11. This prevents escape of liquid from the bottle through the upper end of the filling tube. Furthermore, and if necessary, the gas pressure in the bottle can be reduced independently of the establishment of a connection between the filling tube 5 and the atmosphere; this can be achieved by imparting to a portion of the cam 30 a shape which insures that the valve member 23 moves away and stays away from its seat while the valve member 24 remains in sealing position. It is clear that the various cams may be replaced by electromagnets or other suitable valve actuating devices.

The configuration of the cam 30 can be selected in such a way that this cam effects controlled axial movements ofthe stem 21 in the course of the main filling stage, i.e., while the first valve 2 is open, in order to establish a connection between the interior of the bottle and the atmosphere for the purpose of effecting complete or partial reduction of gas pressure in the bottle and of thereby accelerating the inflow of liquid via valve 2. In other words, the valve 3 may also serve as a means for selecting the length of intervals required to fill a bottle to the level 32. Such versatility of the relief valve 3 enables the improved filling head 1 to find preferred use in a variety of filling operations and to modify a filling cycle by the simple expedient of replacing the cam 30 with a different valve actuating device.

The cam 28a which controls the locking pawl 27 for the shutoflf valve 4 need not form a complete annulus. It suffices to use one or more short arcuate sections which are adjacent to the path of travel of the filling heads 1 to effect upward movement of successive followers 28 during certain stages of the respective filling cycles. The manner in which a conveyor supplies, lifts and removes bottles, and the manner in which the filling heads 1 are driven is well known from the art of bottle filling apparatus and is not shown in the drawing.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

We claim:

1. Apparatus for filling bottles or like containers with liquids, particularly with carbonated beverages, comprising a source containing a supply of liquid and a plenum chamber above the liquid level and having an outlet for liquid; a filling head having a downwardly extending filling tube registering with said outlet and extendable into a container; a first valve in said head for admitting liquid from said' source into said tube; a gas admitting conduit connecting the interior of a container to be filled with said chamber to pressurize the container; a gas returning conduit connecting said chamber with the container into which said tube extends to effect return flow of gas during admission of liquid through said first valve; second and third valves in said head for respectively regulating the fiow of gas through said gas admitting and gas returning conduits; relief conduit means in said head to connect the upper end of said tube and the interior of said container into which said tube extends with the atmosphere; and a relief valve in said head to regulate the flow of gas in said relief conduit means, each of said valves including at least one valve member movable in axial direction toward and away from its valve seat.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said relief valve comprises two axially movable stems each provided with a valve member engageable with a seat in said head to respectively seal the tube and the container from the atmosphere, and further comprising actuating means for displacing one of said stems and for effecting displacement of the other stem through the intermediary of said one stem.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said stems are separated by a gap when the valve members engage the respective seats so that said one stem moves independently of the other stem during a portion of axial displacement by said actuating means.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising locking means for releasably holding said third valve in open position.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said locking means comprises a pawl movable between locking and idle positions, said third valve having a groove to receive a portion of said pawl in the locking position thereof.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 4,, further comprising means for disengaging said locking means from said third valve.

7. A relief valve, particularly for use in the filling head of the apparatus as set forth in claim 1, comprising a pair of axially movable coaxial valve stems normally separated from each other by a gap; a valve member provided on each of said stems and engaging with a seat in the filling head when the stems are separated by said gap; and means for urging said valve members against the respective seats, one of said stems being movable axially across said gap to displace the other stem.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,207,189 9/1965 Vergobbi 1419O 3,252,486 5/1966 Malurich 141-50 FOREIGN PATENTS 628,290 5/1963 Belgium.

HOUSTON S. BELL, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 141-48, 302 

